Courted: A Paranormal Romance (Midnight Huntress Book 2) Read online

  Courted

  Midnight Huntress: Book Two

  Piper Fox

  Contents

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  Who’s Your Daddy?

  Measuring Contest

  Cooler Heads

  It’s Complicated

  Left Unleashed

  Unfulfilled

  Pacing Panther, Deciding Demigoddess

  Torn Between the Mind and the Heart

  It all Comes to a Head

  Learning to Share

  Sex and Thrall

  Reluctant Hero

  Invitation Only

  Also by Piper Fox

  About the Author

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  Who’s Your Daddy?

  RYANNE

  I don’t know how to deal with everything I’ve learned in the past few days.

  Shifters are real. Demons walk the Earth, including incubi that can affect the sexual tension of an entire room, and sway even the most ardently straight over to at least a curiosity.

  Oh, and apparently, one of my biological parents is a god.

  Now, I’m hiding out in the house of a guy I barely know, whose first introduction to me was pulling Orion’s arrow out of my shoulder and dousing the wound with three excruciatingly painful potions to eradicate the poison the arrow carried.

  “Ry?” Tyler’s head pops in through the doorway to this operating room I’m still sitting in, concern clouding his bicolored eyes.

  “Hey, Tyler.” I shift so that I’m sitting more upright. I got a little slumped when I was all alone, but now that someone else is here, I don’t want to look like I’m throwing myself a pity party. “Come on in.”

  He enters slowly, as if I’m some scared bunny who will bolt if he moves too quickly.

  Part of me wonders if he’s right.

  My whole body still hurts, but it’s getting easier to move, easier to believe there won’t be lasting damage.

  “How you holding up?”

  I reach for his hand, pulling him in closer. “Honestly, it’s just nice to know some truth for a change. I don’t know what to do with any of it yet, but at least I’m not so in the dark.”

  “I never meant to keep you in the dark. You have to know that.” Tyler’s brow furrows as he leans closer.

  “I do. I get not wanting to tell me that you shift into a wolf and run naked through the woods around St. Cloud.” I smile softly. “Is that why you never want to talk about leaving? Do you have a pack or something here?”

  “Not really a pack. That night at Molly’s Place, the night you met Gage…almost everyone in there was a shifter of one kind or another. I have people who understand me here, people who don’t look at me like I’m a monster.” He leans over me and kisses my forehead. “Not that you’ve ever looked at me that way. Even when you saw me shift.”

  “You’re not going to start looking at me differently now that you know I’m descended from the gods, are you?” I squeeze his hand. “Who would’ve guessed that me, of all the people in the world, would end up with a god for a parent?” I sigh. “Makes sense why I ended up in foster care though. I’m sure a god is far too busy to just take care of dirty diapers when there are people to smite from a cloud or something, right?”

  Tyler shakes his head. “I think it’s more complicated than that. There are packs who don’t even allow shifters to marry humans, even if the fates have designed them to be together. If we can’t even make it work on Earth, I can only imagine how hard it would be to justify a mixed relationship between a god and a mortal.” He brushes my hair back and cups my cheek. “You should get some rest. We all should. When you’re ready, I’m here to help with any research you need.”

  I smirk. “Always trying to be the intrepid reporter.” With a grunt, I sit up and pull him into a hug. “Thank you, Tyler. I don’t know how I’d handle all this without you.” The truth is, I don’t want to handle it without him. I need him.

  “Luckily, you’ll never have to find out.” He heads out of the room, leaving me alone again to rest.

  But not for very long.

  The stranger, the one with the potions, walks in next. “How’s my patient?” His voice is deep and raspy.

  “I think I’m going to live.” I chuckle humorlessly. “Do I get to know who, and what, you are?”

  “I guess you were pretty unconscious for the introductions, weren’t you?” He smiles and extends his hand. “Brandis Lawrence, bear shifter. This is my house, and I’m sure that as soon as I’m done checking you over, Gage is going to tear through here, sniffing around, making sure I don’t do anything the Agency would disapprove of.” He rolls his eyes before adding, “And by the Agency, I really mean my father.”

  “You’re S.E.A. too?” I watch curiously as he moves around the room, cleaning up the debris from my impromptu arrow extraction. “Is that why Gage brought me here?”

  “Not S.E.A.” He pauses to look over his shoulder at me. “My guess is that Gage brought you here as a last resort. Shifters aren’t supposed to study magic. We’re not supposed to experiment or have curiosities outside of our lane. But, lucky for you, I’ve never been good at listening to what my father and the older members of the Agency believe.”

  I can’t help but smile at that. “Should I call you Judd Nelson, then? With your love of flannel and rebellion?”

  Really, he looks more like a lumberjack than a rebel, with his full, thick beard with just a tinge of red to it, and the long auburn hair he has tied in a low ponytail at the base of his neck.

  “Does that make you the princess?” He smirks at me as he gingerly picks up the arrow again and drops it in the sink.

  “I am definitely not the princess.” I chuckle as I stretch, testing my limits as I start to feel better.

  He shrugs. “I’m not the rebel either. If anything, I’m probably the weird girl who eats pixie sticks on her sandwich.”

  That elicits a full laugh from me.

  “You really didn’t know what you were before you came here?” His abrupt change of subject has my mind jogging to keep up.

  I shake my head. “Before this weekend, I thought I was human. I thought we all were.” I sigh. “Before I was attacked in my office by a couple of criminal shifters I locked up, I healed normally. I didn’t have any magic, or any idea that magic was real.”

  “Interesting.” Brandis tilts his head at me, his dark brown eyes looking almost amber as the light catches them. “And you’re mated with Tyler? Or Gage?” With a raised eyebrow, he adds, “Both?”

  My eyes grow wide. “Uh, neither.”

  “Hey, don’t act like it’s that insane a notion. You come in here, smelling like both of them, and neither of them would leave the room so I could work on you. What was I supposed to think?”

  “Not that we’re mated.” I shake my head. “Is that…common, among shifters? Multiple mates?”

  Brandis shrugs. “Nowadays, shifters like to act like people. One man, one woman. Even if the fates pair two men or two women together, most groups shun them. But it wasn’t always this way. Sometimes I think we’ve gotten so accustomed to being afraid of what other people will think, we don’t consider what’s best for ourselves.” He pauses and looks over at me. “Why? Are you considering multipl
e mates?”

  I shrug as nonchalantly as I can, even as my head fills with possibilities. I hadn’t considered any mates. Gage and I hooked up, but did that mean “mate”? And Tyler? He was my best friend. Even as I thought it, I knew it was a lie. But multiples? Was that an option? The hysterical laughter in my head told me, probably not. It’s not like men truly like to share.

  “You’ve got enough on your plate without me confusing the issue by talking about mates. I’m probably just reading the room wrong. I’ve done it plenty before.” He comes close and investigates my shoulder wound. Or at least where the wound used to be. I don’t know what he’s looking for, or at, since there’s nothing on the surface to even indicate that I’d ever been wounded.

  But then he sniffs me.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’m checking for signs that the poison is lingering in your system. I want to make sure we got it all.” He looks up at me, his face close enough that I could easily kiss him.

  Not that I’m thinking about that. Not at all.

  Until he licks his lips.

  Fuck.

  “Um, I should get cleaned up. Is the shower free?” I break eye contact, ignoring the way my libido is lighting up around him.

  If hyperactive sexuality is a demigoddess trait, I want to go back to being mortal. Immediately.

  He nods and holds out his hand. “I’ll get you fresh towels and a shirt to change into. Do you want me to send one of the guys to get your own clothes?”

  “I can make a shirt work for the night. I can go home myself, can’t I?”

  Gage’s voice startles us both. “Not alone. You’ve been attacked twice in as many days. I’m not going to let you head straight back into a trap.”

  “How do we even know that anyone else is coming? That arrow should’ve killed me. If it weren’t for Brandis, it probably would have. For all we know, they think I’m dead. Whoever ‘they’ are.” I get up, only slightly wobbly on my feet. “I won’t be locked up like a princess in a tower. I won’t hide away. They want to come after me, they’ll find out what scary looks like.” I feel my skin getting hot, like it’s reacting to my anger, and for a minute, I worry that the poison’s still in me, trying to burn me up from the inside out.

  Brandis and Gage aren’t looking at me, they’re both focused on my hands.

  My gaze follows theirs down to my fingers. I bring them up to watch the lightshow myself. The red is iridescent and moves around and through my hands in twists and turns.

  “What the fuck is that?”

  “I would guess it’s a manifestation of your demigoddess power. Magic is often tied to emotion, and the more emotional you get, the more prominent your abilities will show.” Brandis grins at me, like it’s the coolest thing he’s ever seen.

  Gage looks a lot more wary.

  “How do I stop it?”

  “Control your emotions. Focus on something that doesn’t make you angry.”

  I immediately think about Tyler.

  Even when he irritates me, even when he’s arguing against me going after someone or trying to get me to slow down, be cautious, he doesn’t make me mad.

  He’s my rock.

  The heat in my chest eases, and I let out a slow, steady breath.

  The light show around my hands slows until the last of the glowing light dissipates.

  Brandis smiles. “Nice work.”

  I wait until I’m sure I can speak without letting anger get the best of me. Then I say, “Gage, I appreciate that you want to look after me, that it’s your job with the S.E.A. to make sure that magical creatures stay in line, but I’m a big girl. I’ve been taking care of myself most of my life. I can’t, I won’t be treated like I’m incapable, just because we don’t know all the facts yet.” As I walk past him toward the rest of the house, I add, “If you don’t believe me, talk to Tyler. He’ll let you know how good I am at waiting for all the information before I go.”

  Brandis leads me to what I can only assume is his bedroom, grinning the whole way, like hearing me tell Gage off is his new favorite thing.

  I have a feeling I’m going to need more of the story between him and the S.E.A.

  “The shower’s a little fickle, I’d let the hot run for a minute before you get in. Sometimes it sputters and jolts you with an icy blast before the water heater fully kicks on.” He pulls a set of towels out from under the sink.

  I can’t help it. My eyes go straight to his ass and the way his jeans pull tight over it when he bends over. Brandis is thicker than Gage, stockier, but no less built, if his muscular thighs and firm ass are any indication.

  I’m starting to think that being muscular and sexy is a shifter trait, since all three of the men in the house look like they don’t have an ounce of unnecessary fat on them.

  “I could join you if you want. I’d be very good at washing your back.”

  He looks over his shoulder, and I can feel the flushing heat of a blush coming on.

  “I think I can manage.”

  “If you change your mind, I’m sure you could have your pick of company in the shower tonight.” He smirks at me as he turns around, crowding me into the wall with his big body. “Maybe one of us should sit in here with you. Make sure that you’re not going to faint on us.”

  I roll my eyes. “Nice try. I’m not getting naked in front of you, Brandis. Right now, not really interested in getting naked in front of any of you.” I nudge him toward the door. “I have enough going on in my life without a panther and a bear fighting over who gets to fuck me.”

  “Don’t forget the wolf.” He winks as he pulls the door shut behind him.

  The wolf. Yeah, right. Tyler’s never looked at me like anything more than a friend, a companion with matching baggage and matching damage.

  The shower, once it gets to an even temperature, feels incredible. I know it’s not some mythical shower with healing properties, but it might as well be, for as amazing as the hot water and perfect pressure beats down on my skin.

  I could stand here all night, just letting it wash away the crap of two attacks, two wounds that shouldn’t be even remotely healed yet.

  And, okay, I might be using it to avoid going back out to the guys.

  Gage is acting like an overprotective asshat.

  Brandis is acting like he’s down for anything. I’m not sure whether that includes the guys or not, but something tells me he’s more open than Gage or Tyler would be.

  Then there’s Tyler. The man who’s been there for me through so many ups and downs, I kind of take it for granted that he will be.

  The way Brandis talks about him is almost enough to make me question whether there have been signs Tyler wants more from our relationship.

  If he did, he’d say something, right? So many late nights, so many long hours spent together. Hell, so many nights where I’ve fallen asleep in his arms.

  I’m too damn tired to wonder about this right now. If Tyler is into me, or if he’s not, it doesn’t really matter. Right now, all I want to do is figure out where I’m sleeping tonight, and crawl into a bed.

  God, I hope they’re not expecting me to sleep on that operating table.

  By the time the water starts to run cold, I figure I’ve bided my time long enough.

  The towels are fine to dry myself off with, but they might as well be the size of hand towels, for as well as they’d wrap around me. With a deep breath, I crack open the door and peer into the bedroom.

  No sign of any of the guys, but there is a pile of clothes on the bed.

  Not just a shirt.

  A pile. Of what looks like my clothes.

  Frowning, I head over to it. Sure enough, these are my yoga pants. They even have the same small holes in the inner thighs from wear and tear where my legs rub together when I walk.

  And my favorite t-shirt.

  Guessing Tyler ran back to my apartment, I dress quickly and wrap a towel around my hair to go find him and thank him.

  Instead, I find Molly sitti
ng at the kitchen table with the three men.

  “What are you doing here?” It’s out of my mouth before I can even stop myself.

  Molly doesn’t seem to notice my rude outburst. “I brought the rest of the weaponry. And your clothes. I didn’t figure any of these men were going to be thoughtful enough, or gracious enough, to make sure you had something that fit well.” She smiles at me and waves her hand, coaxing another mug to fly, of its own accord, off the rack on the wall.

  As it floats toward the table, I look at all the men in turn. Did one of them call her? Or did she just know?

  “Join us. I think we all need to have a talk.”

  Tyler stands, offering me his chair. I sink down into it, not because I necessarily want to be sitting, or having a conversation about all this crap with someone who, until very recently, I thought was just a bartender. But I’m still tired, like my body’s worked extra hard today, and I don’t want to fight against it.

  “Tea?” She gestures at the pot on the table.

  “No.” I lean forward. “Did you know what I am?”

  “The spells warding you, hiding your true nature, were strong. They shouldn’t have broken. I think whoever put them on you intended you to live as a mortal, to never know your true self.” She shakes her head. “As if that’s ever done anyone any good.”

  I frown. “Someone intentionally hid this from me? From everyone?”

  “Demigods are dangerous beings, Ryanne. Especially when they don’t have other gods to keep them in check. If you’d come into your powers as a child, you could’ve done untold damage to the fabric of the universe.” She smirks. “Of course, you still can, if that’s something that interests you.”

  I laugh. “If it becomes part of my agenda, I’ll let you know.”